The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

John Cassavetes

Writer:

John Cassavetes (writer)

Release Date:

8 October 1977 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

A proud strip club owner is forced to come to terms with himself as a man, when his gambling addiction gets him in hot water with the mob, who offer him only one alternative.

Plot Keywords:

Strip Club | Gambling Debt | Murder For Hire | Reluctant Hitman | Neo Noir

Cast

Ben Gazzara	...	Cosmo Vitelli
Timothy Carey	...	Flo (Gangster) (as Timothy Agoglia Carey)
Seymour Cassel	...	Mort Weil (Gangster)
Robert Phillips	...	Phil (Gangster)
Morgan Woodward	...	John (Head gangster)
John Kullers	...	Eddie-Red (as John Red Kullers)
Al Ruban	...	Marty Reitz (Gangster)
Azizi Johari	...	Rachel
Virginia Carrington	...	Betty, the mother
Meade Roberts	...	Mr. Sophistication
Alice Fredlund	...	Sherry
Donna Gordon	...	Margo Donnar (as Donna Marie Gordon)
Haji	...	Haji
Carol Warren	...	Carol
Derna Wong Davis	...	Derna

Runtime:

135 min | 109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (re-rating) | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R

Company:

Faces Distribution

Trivia:

This was actually a story idea developed by John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese years previously.

Quotes:

Cosmo Vitelli: My mother was very funny. Had a great sense of humor. Yeah, that's right. She was so funny, she ran off with this big, fat butcher.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Imaginationland (#11.10)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

I Can't Give You Anything but Love

Killer Cassavettes!

Like many viewers, the first time I watched this, I thought nothing was happening. So I fell asleep midway through, only to awake for the film's uplifting ending in which Ben Gazzara gives the "girls" a pep talk -which is the greatest thing since the "win one for the gipper" speech in Knute Rockne. It made me want to see it again. Boy am I glad I did! This film is so much like real life that you not only watch it, you live it. Watching this movie is as intimate an experience as reading a novel. Thus, you are with the protagonist, Cosmo Vitelli, every step of the way. At first glance he appears to be doing nothing-but guess what folks, he's thinking. That what's missing in movies today: characters who take time to reflect before they act. People who accuse Gazzara of doing nothing here just don't get it. It's an amazing one of a kind performance in a movie that is character driven rather than plot driven. When this movie was first released, it was met with much criticism and public indifference. Audiences and critics expecting your typical mob picture were understandably disappointed. However, with Killing of a Chinese Bookie, John Cassavettes taught audiences and critics alike a valuable lesson: Rather than always criticizing films for not meeting our expectations, we need to reevaluate our expectations and expect a little bit more.